Elder Scrolls: Presence of the Past
by Taosman
Summary: This is the first part of my presentation of the storyline from the Elder Scroll genre after Skyrim.


**The Elder Scrolls: Presence of the Past **

"When the first dragon appeared before man, all the skies darkened gray, storms filled the heavens, snow fell as blinding ash, rain burnt as if acid and all the divines were powerless to stop the fury that followed."

**Master Dej**

**Prelude**

The 'World-Eater' had finally been defeated. Questions were still not answered as to why the Dragonborn was not able to absorb Alduin's soul. But, she could no longer sense his power. She was satisfied that the world should not fear that evil any longer. A peace accord was then made between all the remaining dragons and all the countries in Tamriel. The dragons would be allowed to hunt and nest on their alters in Skyrim, the Wrothgain Mountains and the peaks near the cities of Ald'ruhn, Cheydinal, Corinthe, Lilmoth, and Skaven throughout Tamriel. They would be free to hunt any beings summoned from Oblivion and absorb their souls. Of course, any citizen foolish enough to venture to these 'Dragon Realms' would become prey and not protected under the terms of peace. Feral werewolves and vampires seemed to be drawn to live close to the Dragons and thus becoming natural prey and less worrisome to others.

The treaty didn't sit well with the Blades at first. Esbern had died shortly after Alduin was vanquished, happy that all he had lived and worked for had been fulfilled. Delphine's hatred for the dragons, though, had still not been calmed. Knowing this, the Dragonborn asked that she join her on the seven thousand step pilgrimage to speak to Master Arngier in hopes of acquiring absolution for Delphine. The Blades leader quietly agreed hoping only to satisfy the Dragonborn as payment for fulfilling prophecy. Master Arngier agreed to this also, but required that she would remain for the minimum period for absolution of one year. But as it seemed, the longer she stayed in High Hrothgar, the more her mind became more quiet and her hatred gradually was silenced. The Grey-beards now saw in her the power of the Thu'um that had been hidden by all the years of bitterness. Master Borri seems especially taken with Delphine and personally trained her in the meditation needed to maintain and use shouts. Delphine now saw the wisdom of the 'Voice Within' and required that all Blades make the pilgrimage. Once trained by Master Borri and Delphine they became enlightened by their Thu'um and were named Blade-monks.

Becoming a member of the 'Circle' of the Companions no longer required that one to became a werewolf since the cleansing of the Glenmori witches' curse. Aela had remained the only Companion not cleansed and stayed for a short period after the Dragonborn cleansed Kodlak's spirit and left Jorrvaskr to do battle with Alduin. None of the remaining Companions had the same 'Hunt' in her heart the way she did, so she went out alone searching for others of the same predatory spirit. In her travels, she was ambushed by a pack of the Forsworn just west from Whiterun. After defeating them and killed the leader, she found a unsigned journal on him called "Werewolf Queen from the Reach". She vowed to find it's author and it's meaning. After his cleansing, Farkas found the need to read and learn of the world. In a short period of time he became a rouge scholar. The Dragonborn was impressed by this and appointed and trusted him to be the Harbinger. Vilkas had been offered the position first, but declined as he wanted to be always at the Dragonborn's side as his repayment for his cleansing.

For saving her life, the Dragonborn passed on the leadership of the Nightingales and Thieves Guild on to Karliah. Unlike Mercer though, she refused to broker a partnership with the Dark Brotherhood and the two factions became at odds. Karliah showed her master guile by sneaking into 'Mother's' coffin and having her order the leaders of the Dark Brotherhood to assassinate each other. Once these quest were completed, the remaining brotherhood members were then assimilated into the Thieves Guild and their skills where put to more humane, but still illegal uses.

Now that the 'Eye of Magnus' had safely been taken away by the Psijic Order and the evil Arcano now dead, the Mages Guild was left to the leadership of Enthir by the Dragonborn. After years of self isolation by the guild, he sought out the scholar mages from all of Tamriel in hopes of making magic a standard that all would respect. The Arcanaeum had become largest known library on the planet by the hand of the Dragonborn's adventures and travels afar. Leaders, mages and scholars would come from everywhere to live there, making Winterhold the largest populated city in Skyrim.

Since the defeat of her father Harkon, Serana had made many trips to see her mother Valerica in hopes that she could convince her to someday return to Tamriel. Valerica had said that she would only return if she could be cured of her thirst for blood. Isran had told her that the Dawnguard Florentius had been working on a cure and found that if captured vampires fed on trolls blood treated with small amounts of garlic, their thirst for blood would be quelled up to weeks. This seemed to be enough for Valerica to return with Serana. Isran ordered that Castle Volkinar was to designated as a safe haven for all vampires and the Dawnguard would provide protection for this sanctuary from Northwatch Keep. But, any vampire in Skyrim who didn't seek the safety of the castle would still be hunted, Isran promised. Most of the Vigilantes of Stendarr, still in disarray from the attack by the vampires, had left their faith to join the Dawnguard.

The rebellion between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks would continue on for a few years after Alduin's defeat. The Imperials shear numbers would be the main factor that the Stormcloaks found difficult to overcome. After the meeting at High Hrothgar to discuss a treaty so that the Dragonborn could go forward against the dragons, the Jarl of Windhelm saw that the Blades hated the Thalmar as much as he did. He offered to meet with them and put their differences aside to fight a common enemy. They would finally meet after Delphine's return from training with the Greybeards. Delphine saw Ulfic's knowledge of the Thu'um as the bond that they could form a alliance with. Both parties had tired of the Thalmars' interference in the war. And the Blades had their own history of being pursued by the Thalmar since the Imperials tossed them away after making peace with the Aldmeri Dominion. After joining forces, it would only take a few months for the coalition to push the Imperials all the way northwest to the crossing at Dragons Bridge. General Tullius would be sent back to Cyrodiil in shame and going against Aldmeri demands, the Empire surrendered the whole of Skyrim. They did this to prevent the rebellion spilling over borders. Ulfric Stormcloak would be ordained as 'King of the North' and his first order as king was the restoration of all the shrines of Talos throughout Skyrim.

**The Dwemer Dilemma **

"Alas, the fury of evil found, intimidating and seemingly ruthless. It must be sealed away so no one shall fear it from now forward."

**Lord Ynoh Tha***

The Dragonborn had been searching for the lost ruins of Aremos for many moons passing. Her following was waning. Vilkas's exhaustion from the quest added to the fear that his human form still had trouble dealing with. And without proper meditation, the Blade-monk's Thu'um slowly faded and the only aid the few that remained could only protect the Dragonborn rear.

"The journey must continue on brothers. But, we will camp here and will rest for the night." She exclaimed.

With only a few clues to follow, the group must push on at the next mourning's light and continue to look for the solution to answer the meaning of the Dragonborn's never ending dreams of unknown lands where no men could be seen.

The first clue came from a unexpected source. Calcemo had hear of the dreams that the Dragonborn had been experiencing and surmised a recently translated Dwemer tome was connected somehow. Calcemo remembered what the Dragonborn had done for him and his curiosity of anything Dwemer guided him to contact her.

"Dragonborn, this tome may help you find your anwsers."

Was this once, lost tome to blame? This might be, considering it took hundreds of years to translate by the Synod scholars in Cyrodiil. To the normal understanding of man, it's translation had no end, infinity. But when he had brought a copy of the tome for the Dragonborn to read. Once read, she understood it's purpose and meaning.

According to the tome, the ancient Dwemer had constructed a tunnel following the sounds of Dwemer machinery that no record could account for. After the passing of fifty moon's, a large cavern had been discovered. Upon entering the cavern, very loud sounds of numerous danger horns that only the Dwemer used had been set off. As the translation read, the horns signature were similar to the sounds coming from Areil's shrine where she had first met Gelebar. Could it be that Snow Elves had been there first and installed the warning horns?

As in normal procedure to these warnings the Dwemer collapsed the tunnel by

***Ynoh Tha was a Dwemer warrior prince from what is now Markath assigned to oversee the dig site and had overseen many previous digs.**

the order of Lord Ynoh Tha to be completed immediately to heed the danger of this alarm. A second addition collapse was ordered because muffled sounds of the horns still could be heard after the first attempt. There was only silence after this try and the Dwemer were content that it had been permanently sealed.

As their warning to all who might follow, the Dwemer chronicled this event in their own script for all to read. The tome was called 'The Tunnel to the Cavern of Fear'. A section of the tome read as some there seeing forms in the cavern, almost unseen, as if shadows, with eyes like green emeralds peering at them. Both the Dwemer and the unknown were in a startled state, each keeping their distance and standing on guard. The fear that ensued by his men caused Lord Ynoh Tha to act.

Also mentioned in the tome was the city of Aremos. It was built as a security stronghold after the collapses to send warning to all the Dwemer City States in the event the tunnels were breached. No warnings were ever needed as the history of the city had passed as did the Dwemer civilization.

The tome was the first clue that seemed to relate the most to the dreams the

Dragonborn had been experiencing. The name Aremos was translated to mean ' The Gateway of Fire'. In her dreams, the land she entered had what appeared to a great archway that looked like humongous columns of fire. She knew then it was time to take action right away and this quest begun.

As the sun rose, the Dragonborn awoke and the time had come to set forth.

"Vilkas, muster the Blade-monks, we must make haste and move on in our search." Vilkas quickly rose to his feet and just as he was going to wake the rest of the group, a person familiar to the Dragonborn approached. "Brynjolf, what are you doing here?"

**Expedition to Elindar**

"The Dwemer simply didn't just disappear. They were diseased by their own ambition." Amron- Expedition Scholar

The Blades and the Stormcloaks were not the only ones who had felt the wrath of the Thalmar. Hammerfell had been able to keep the Aldmeri Dominion at bay in their own war with them while the rebellion in Skyrim went on. Saadia had been discovered to be a spy working for the Redguard against the Thalmar. They then hired Redguard mercenaries under the guise of being Hammerfell nobles looking for a Redguard woman they deemed to be a traitor. With the help of the Dragonborn, she was able to evade this plot and remained undercover working at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun until it was safe to go home to Taneth.

After the Imperials gave Skyrim it's freedom, Saadia was able to go home undetected by the Thalmar to rejoin the House Sadu as under her real name, lady Iman. During the following weeks, the Redguard had been able to drive the Thalmar back all the to the foothills of Skaven. When the first dragons arrived after the Skyrim peace accord, they nested on what was the only remaining supply line the Thalmar used. With this line cut, the Redguard easily defeated the remaining forces to end their own war.

The war had cost the life of Iman's brother and her father had become a shell of himself after being held in a Thalmor prison. She was given leadership of Taneth and it's surround townships as reward for her families heroism and sacrifice. A once abandoned silver mine nearby was reopened and Iman used some techniques she had learned from the many travelers she had met to increase the amount of silver ore taken from the mine. In less than a year, her families wealth had increased a hundred fold.

One of the foremen working at the mine had heard one of the workers talking about the stories that were told to Redguard children about venturing out to areas that were unsafe to go to. However, this version spoke of sounds coming from the mountains of Elindar and the foreman went to share this information with Iman. The worker had said these sounds were similar to hissing snakes. Iman had lived in Skyrim long enough to these could only be the sounds coming from Dwemer ruins. The rumors of the Dwemer once living in Hammerfell were even written in text*.

Her childhood friend Amorn had went to Dragonstar to study and was given the title of scholar a few years later. She thought that out of anyone studied, he might be able to disprove these stories. As it turned out, Amorn had hear this same story and had been studying various text to find any mention of this. Only the 'Oil Springs' near Elindar had any resemblance to the stories in his research. Amorn sent word to Iman to meet him.

"My dear Iman, it has been too long." Each grasping one another forearms as the custom between friends.

"Yes brother, what news?"

"We must look into this..." before he could finish Iman had raised her hand.

"What else do you need to start this quest?" Handing him a large pouch of gold.

Iman made Amorn the leader of the expedition and none present objected. Now manned, supplied and funded, his group to set out for the Elindar.

***Book of Dwarven Lore by Favoril **

**To be continued...**


End file.
